The Garden
by Grace of the Feathered Pen
Summary: I fell in love with two guys; neither were interested. People say I fall in and out of love easily, and I didn't believe them until it came down to me falling in love with a stranger. All because he rescued me! No matter how hard I try, I can't shake the image of him from my mind, blonde hair, blue eyes, and that tattoo. What is wrong with me? It's never been this hard before...


_**The Garden**_

_I really wanted that thing_

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><p><strong>Saturday August 23rd 2014 12:00 pm<strong>

I tap my fingers nervously against the steering wheel, as I drive myself to the new house I will be sharing. The slip of paper between my index and middle fingers reads _13 Holly Court_. The streets are all black, and smooth, looking as if they are new. This country is too perfect, and almost seems to be mocking me. Saying, "Here, take this thing you did nothing to deserve. Have a nice life."

Finally I pull onto my street and look at the houses, lined up side-by-side down the road, freshly cut lawns and white-picket fences. Kids run around the lawns and streets playing all sorts of games that under normal circumstances I would think is fun. Slowly I go down the road so I don't hit anybody. That wouldn't make a very good first impression.

Going down the street, I count down the houses, starting at one, and ending at fifteen. My house is near the end of the street, and it seems that there are no children playing near it, which I suppose is a good thing. I stare at the driveway for a minute, before I pull into it. The driveway looks like it could fit three cars comfortably. This might cause problems, but from what I understand, the people in the house will be me, and my younger brother Ansem, so that's two cars, and some guy name Snow, and his younger siblings, so that will be three cars, maybe, and some guy named Sulfur. But from what my therapist told me, he is a teenager, so maybe he isn't driving yet. Maybe the driveway won't be the biggest problem we have.

I pull into as far left as I can, so my house-mates won't hate me before they even meet me. I step out of my car, and smell the fresh air, perfumed with flowers. It smells lovely, and I begin to convince myself that I won't hate a country as beautiful as Radiant Garden. The house is painted a light shade of blue, and hey- that's my favorite color! The door is a darker blue, and the windows are white. There are flowers going from the where the driveway ends, to where the steps to the door begin.

Opening up the trunk of my red Aston Martin Vanquish, I pull out my suitcases, and pray to god I got here before the movers, although it looks like I am the first one here. I begin the task of pulling my luggage into the house, but it doesn't take long, as I only had three bags worth of stuff. I walk up the steps to the perfectly painted house, and unlock the door. I pull myself through the door and take a look at the emptiness in front of me.

I see a large living room, with bright sunshine yellow wallpaper with a white and yellow stripe pattern halfway down the wall. The floors are hardwood, which is nice. An archway to the left of the living room is where I suspect we will end up putting a dining room. The walls are a nice deep red color, making it look sophisticated. Connecting to the right of that is a sliding glass door, which leads to a nice, large backyard. To the left there is a kitchen and I decide not to step in, because from what I see, whoever lived here last decided it would be a good idea to give the kitchen a pale-green, cheap plastic look.

I find more rooms, a total of seven downstairs that would look great after a little tender love and care. There is a basement as well, but it looks run-down, and unfinished. The upstairs has a total of three bathrooms, and eight bedrooms, which is weird I think, because there are only supposed to be six of us. But in my searching, I find a door with the name _Zell Dincht_ written on it, and figuring my therapist left it, I make my way inside. My room is unfurnished, not that it is much of a surprise; the moving truck is coming later with my bed and dresser. I put my bags down, so I can lean against my wall and take a good look at my room. The room is fairly large, like a master bedroom. I'll paint the walls later, but right now they are an herb green color. Not that I mind green, but blue would look better in my opinion.

After more examination of the rooms in the house, I conclude I won't mind living here, and there are many places I could avoid my roommates if I don't like them. From what my therapist told me, their not bad people. I saw their names on the doors as well, and after curiosity got the better of me, I looked in their rooms. I was surprised when I saw Snow Villiers' luggage in his room already. I originally thought that I was the first person here, not that that matters; it's not a competition. The other doors was marked Seifer Almasy, Ansem Dincht, and Daisukenojo and Raimu Villiers. There was no luggage in Daisukenojo and Raimu's room, so I'm guessing that that is where Snow went off to; to pick his brother and sister up.

I end up in the bathroom closest to my room, and set to putting my stuff away: tooth brush, toothpaste, hair gel, hairbrush, and deodorant, all of that junk. I dare myself to glance in the mirror, and can't pull myself to look away. My blonde hair is spiked upwards, just like how I like it. My blue eyes would normally be shining bright, but are now lacking the light they held months prior, red rimmed from the tears I shed on her behalf. I take my finger and trace the tribal design tattoo I got on the left side of my face, and instantly remember the fight we had.

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><p><em>"Ma, it's not a big deal!"<em>

_"Not a big deal? Young man, you got a tattoo! Without telling me!" Just her brown eyes are capable of showing her fury. Her long black hair is tied tight into a bun, pulling on her slightly wrinkled face a slight bit. Her hands rest on her plump hips, in a unimpressed manner._

_"What's the problem with it? I told you I was thinking about getting a tattoo!" I fire back with as much animosity as I can, but I won't last long. I hate fighting with her._

_"I wanted to go with you!" She yells back. It is then I notice that she has tears in her eyes, one even managing to escape it's prison, and slowly crawls down her face. I quickly drop the macho routine and comfort my mother. She clings to me crying for a minute, and I cry too. She has that effect on me._

_"It looks good." She finally croaks. "Suits you."_

_I look at her surprised, before my lips curl upwards into a small smile. "Yeah?"_

_"Yeah." She chuckles a little at herself and dabs at her eyes with her apron. "You want to get hot dogs?"_

_"Hell, yeah!" And we both laugh together._

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><p>Just thinking of her gets me crying again. I grab onto the sink until my knuckles turn white. I let out a scream. I don't even know what I'm screaming at: life? Death? The accident? Screaming at the fact that I have to share a house with the children of the people that murdered my mom? It doesn't matter anymore; I need to let it go. I am a twenty-three-year-old man, crying in a bathroom like I did two months ago. I finally release my death grip on the sink, and make my way down the stairs. I open the front door, and walk outside, deciding to sit on the porch and smell the rose-scented air while contemplating life.<p>

I think about how I haven't had a hot dog since the day ma died. Just the thought of hot dogs make me sick to my stomach now, which just serves to depress me further. I think about what my roommates will be like, if I'll like them, and if they'll like me. I think about where I have heard the name Seifer Almasy. No matter how hard I think, I don't get any closer than I was before.

I am broken from my thoughts when I hear a car pull into the driveway. I look up at the black dodge charger, which parks next to mine. I squint to see if I can see who is in the car, which the first roommate I will meet is. I see a blonde haired man step out of the car; eyes glaring at the world, and a scar on his forehead scrunched up in frustration. I frown when his eyes meet mine- cold blue eyes challenging empty blue ones. I gasp when I finally recognize him.

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><p>Authors Note: This is basically between Zell and Rinoa. I thought they would make an adorable pair, especially since Squall and Seifer are already spoken for, in my opinion. This is the branch off of the fan fiction <em>Scars<em>.


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